LAS VEGAS -- Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour is enjoying the goalie guessing game he has created in the Stanley Cup Final.
Starter Frederik Andersen was pulled after two periods in Game 3 in favor of backup Brandon Bussi, who stopped 18 of 19 shots as the Hurricanes lost in double overtime to the Vegas Golden Knights, who took a 2-1 series lead.
Brind'Amour has made a decision on his starter for Tuesday night's Game 4 in Las Vegas. He's just not sharing it.
"I want to go keep it quiet. There's only a suspenseful thing around here that I have to hold onto," he said after practice Monday. "It seems to have taken a life of its own, so I kind of enjoy it."
Andersen wasn't at the Hurricanes' skate Monday, taking what his coach called a "maintenance day." Brind'Amour waved away speculation that Andersen might be injured -- specifically, from a goalie interference incident in the second period of Game 3 when Golden Knights forward Ivan Barbashev skated into his mask. Andersen will be available for Game 4.
The general vibe around the arena Monday was that Brind'Amour will stick with Andersen, who has started all 16 of their games in the playoffs. He gave up four goals in 16 shots through two periods. Bussi entered in the third period, his first appearance since April 14. He played well, including a penalty shot save against playoff leading scorer Mitch Marner in the third period. Carolina eventually lost on a goal that deflected off Bussi and into the net on a freakish bounce off the end boards following a Shea Theodore shot.
Bussi was in the starter's crease at Monday's practice. He wouldn't reveal his status for Game 4.
"You know Roddy's our coach, right? That's all I could say," he said with a laugh.
Bussi said his preparation for the game doesn't change even though the stakes couldn't be higher for the Hurricanes.
"It's the same thing for me every day. I put my head down and work hard. That's about it," he said. "Personally for me, I just do the same thing every time. It's easier that way.
Andersen's numbers have sharply declined in the last two rounds of the playoffs. In two series sweeps of Ottawa and Philadelphia, Andersen had a .950 save percentage and a 1.12 goals-against average. Since Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, Andersen has a save percentage of .856 and a 2.77 GAA. Against Vegas, he has given up 12 goals on 65 shots faced (.815 save percentage).
But Brind'Amour has defended his veteran goalie's performance throughout this series, saying it's more about the way his team plays in front of Andersen than anything his goalie is doing.
"Obviously, you don't want to give up some of the chances we've been giving up, but overall, I thought he's been fine," the coach said this week.
Hurricanes winger Taylor Hall, echoing many of his teammates Monday, said Carolina is confident in both Andersen and Bussi, who was the team's primary starter for most of the regular season, going 31-6-2 in 39 games.
"We shuffled goalies so much all season long. You show up to the game and you kind of forget who's really starting. You're in warmups and you're like, 'OK, this is who we're shooting on,' So it doesn't matter. We have a lot of confidence in both those guys," he said.
Brind'Amour, who played 20 years in the NHL as a forward, said that's the typical skater's mindset when it comes to the goaltender.
"I think all year as a player you don't really worry about who's in net. You got your own job to worry about. That's why I kind of chuckle about the goalie thing, because as a player, whoever they throw in, I'm not worrying about who's in net. It's really not that big a deal," he said.